Being part of a team can be one of the most supportive environments to learn and grow as an athlete and as an individual. Teammates aspire to work together in harmony to achieve success, sometimes reaching a higher level than an individual could on their own. However, pushing both ourselves as athletes and our teams to improve can be a challenging process. Sport by nature can be competitive and fraught with conflict. Working with multiple personalities and strengths can cause friction, frustration and conflict between teammates. When teammates are in conflict it can have a huge impact on team dynamics and team cohesion. It is how we work through the elements of conflict that helps us determine success. Read more

Single sport focus before age 12 poses injury risk in young athletes is a study conducted by Emory Sports Medicine physician Neeru Jayanthi, MD, recommends that young athletes should not specialize in sports before age 12, train more hours per week then their age, and should limit training to less than 16 hours per week to avoid injury.

Hockey Canada wants all of Canada on the same page when it comes to the delivery of its Initiation Program – traditionally a player’s first brush with organized hockey at the ages of five and six.

Although the Initiation Program – originally developed more than 35 years ago – always recommended cross-ice or half-ice small-area games, its delivery has varied from community to community. Beginning in the upcoming 2017-18 season, a new Hockey Canada policy now mandates that Initiation-aged players receive age-appropriate programming on cross-ice or half-ice surfaces.

“You would never put a five- or six-year-old child on a full-size soccer pitch, or expect them to play basketball without any adjustments made for their size. Hockey is no different,” said Paul Carson, vice-president of membership development for Hockey Canada, who notes that while some provinces and communities already deliver cross-ice programming at the Initiation level, others have always utilized full ice for practices and games.

“The Initiation Program was developed to allow kids to have fun, learn skills, and develop confidence,” said Carson. “Re-sizing the playing surface to cross-ice or half-ice means more puck-touches, which result in more chances to practice puck-control and shooting, as well as overall more movement and motor skill-development – twisting, turning, balance, coordination, agility. Their field-of-play matches their size, and these players hone in on their skill-development in a way that larger ice surfaces just aren’t conducive to.”

The differences in skill-development opportunities with cross-ice or half-ice hockey are significant: players receive five times more passes and take six times more shots. They’re called on to have to make more decisions more quickly, and are overall more engaged in the game.

Special boards and bumpers have been developed that allow for quick and easy division of a regular-sized rink into two half-ice surfaces or three cross-ice rinks, with options to create different small-area configurations. Not only does re-sizing the playing surface allow for Initiation-aged players to develop their hockey skills more effectively, it also allows communities to maximize their ice time by safely putting more teams and games on the ice at one time.

Hockey Canada and its 13 members across the country are coordinating on a communication plan to ensure hockey administrators and coaches receive the resources required to align with the new mandate.

Resources such as the Hockey Canada Network – a best-in-class skill-development resource geared to coaches – features information on the purpose of cross-ice hockey and how to run effective on-ice sessions for the five- and six-year-old Initiation age group.

Instruction on delivering age-appropriate programming will also be available to coaches trained in the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) Coach 1 – Intro Coach. This clinic, delivered by Hockey Canada’s 13 members, is geared towards coaches of entry-level players to provide resources that will aid in the implementation of skill-development and game play.

Many parents of young kids believe that more is better, that they are giving their child an edge by narrowing in on one sport, or even that it is a matter of competitive survival. The reality, however, is very different. Studies consistently document the dangers that include the child’s overall development, dangers in terms of injury to growing bodies, and the danger of burnout.

Hockey Manitoba has created a streamlined player development guide outlining key development strategies throughout minor hockey. Guidelines within the model will allow Associations, coaches, and parents across the province to provide optimal development pathways for their young players as they age through the minor hockey system and the Hockey Canada Long-Term Player Development model. Download the Full Made in Manitoba Player Development Model

What is physical literacy? Physical activity is a lot more fun when we’re physically literate. If we want children to be active for life, they need to develop physical literacy at a young age. Physicalliteracy.ca offers coaches, recreation professionals and health practitioners access to a wide range of resources that can help people become physically literate.

True Sport is a series of programs and initiatives designed to give people, communities and organizations the means by which to leverage the many benefits of sport from a platform of shared values and principles. Through public consultation, Canadians have told us that they want their sport experience to be based on the values of fairness, excellence, inclusion and fun. To learn more click here.